Housing finance company HDFC on Monday said housing demand in the country will remain strong due to low penetration and government incentives.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Keki Mistry, vice chairman and chief executive officer, said it sold Rs 25,150 crore worth of loans in the current financial year against Rs 6,453 crore year-on-year (YoY).

Talking about affordable housing, he said, "Housing is very core to the economy for a variety of reasons. From an economic standpoint, housing creates a lot of jobs. It is the second largest employment generator in the industry apart from agriculture. So agriculture and housing or construction are the two largest employment generators in the country."

"By giving a boost to the housing sector effectively, you will give a boost to all the core sectors in the economy; cement, steel, paint, power, many of the ancillary industries associated with housing, all of these will get a boost when housing gets a boost,” Mistry said.

According to him, housing creates many jobs like construction workers, masons, carpenters, plumbers, engineers etc. "Housing will continue to get a boost over the coming quarters or years as the economic benefit that housing provides to the economy."

"On assets under management (AUM) basis, our individual loan book growth was higher by 17 percent and overall loan book growth was higher by 15 percent on AUM basis,” he further added.

HDFC posted a 26.8 percent rise in its standalone net profit at Rs 2,862 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2019.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 2,257 crore in the January-March quarter of the previous fiscal. Total income during the quarter rose to Rs 11,586.58 crore as against Rs 9,322.36 crore in the year-ago period.